Hi, original poster here... I didn't realize this thread had grown, I must have stopped getting email updates at one point.
Okay I'm somewhat out of the loop on the whole East Coast thing- I'm from midwest - I'm clueless about the reference BUT I will say that my youngest daughter can seem like a pretty unruly child. She is on the autism spectrum and we took a first trip with her a few years back and she LOVED WDW. When she has a meltdown, it can be pretty ugly. But our past trip was so wonderful...so with some extra money this year a return trip seemed like a great idea in the first part of summer.
On her first visit we saw her try so many things and behave so well in situations we didn't expect her too. She had the time of her life and we felt like for the first time we were all joyous together in the same place- mind you- she is a very happy girl, but its often a happiness in her own world- WDW brought us all together feeling joy in the same "realm" so to speak. Personally me, I hoped to find that again. She can be a challenge so we can't really leave her behind and do a couples trip, so our vacations often need to be planned around what she might enjoy doing- for now anyway. Characters are the real deal for her- despite her age I think Winnie the Pooh will always be Winnie the Pooh and the Princesses are the real thing. Its very magical seeing her with them and that was still the case on this trip.
Also- lots of you asked about driving- we drove for two reasons- ONE because we were taking my oldest daughter's friend, so more people but no additional cost of plane ticket. TWO, because our younger daughter, the one on the spectrum struggled with the process of flying the time before. She didn't like the feeling of the air pressure on her ears, nor will she willingly follow rules very easily like wearing a seat belt or staying sat down when she doesn't want to. I think in time as she grows up she is always surprising me with what strategies she comes up with to get through situations that frustrate her- but she can be a challenge on a flight, for us and those around us. It just exhausted us on the first trip there, and we had rented a car to return home in two day on that one- however she was really good in the car and we felt we were more in control of the situation and could manage her behavior better- hence for this trip the LONG drive. Ideally we would fly and will when she's older but for where she is at right now its not a comfortable situation. My husband and I grew up with our parents only driving and secretly one of my favorite parts of the trip was the time I got to spend with him in the van driving/riding. We work different shifts and this really gave us some time together as the kids listening to music, watched DVDs and played road games in the back. But yeah, its a long trip (I think he also loved being able to bring back some Yuengling beer to have here at home in Nebraska.)
I do have the ability to travel a lot as I teach US History and go on trips with my students to DC and NY and travel a lot to Minneapolis as well. BUT having said that I'm a Disnerd and after the first trip taking our youngest we had hopes for a trip that would be like the first- and as many posters pointed out- it just isn't always the same and she is so different now and didn't enjoy the things she had before. There were many contributing factors- I agree that I shouldn't have gone when we did- especially right after work ended for me- that was hard on me and when the "pollyanna" is exhausted it was hard to be perky for everyone else all the time.
For some additional closure...
Has enough time passed that the negatives of the trip have settled away - yes. Am I ready to go back- Yes and No. We do have a trip planned to return with extended family next spring and I'm taking a much different approach. My family and I are going to join them for a lot of stuff, dining etc. but also do a little bit more lowkey less planned out days for us- just hitting our favorites a lot and going at a different time of year will help. We're going during Flower and Garden, which I haven't been to since my honeymoon. (We're usually October people at WDW) -So I'm taking a different approach, but also knowing that those of you that said we should take a break were right, right, right. And we will.
I've really wanted to try cruising. My husband isn't crazy about the idea of just sitting on a beach- which I would love to do. He prefers theme parks and having something to go and do, so hopefully a cruise will have enough things for both he and I to enjoy.
Either way I'm happily overwhelmed with all the advice and comforted by the numbers of you that came home with similar feelings and some stories that made really made me appreciate how well things went on our trip. I was taking for granted how many good things we had going for us and your stories reminded me of that. Thanks so much for taking the time to post here and share your thoughts, advice and experience. In the end I had a trip to a place that I love and good or bad I'm so fortunate, sometimes more so than so many other people that I have been able to go there as often as I have and time helped me appreciate that more and more.
Thanks again for sharing all of you.
